1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an electro-optical device in which numerous pixels are formed, and to an electronic instrument that is provided with the electro-optical device.
2. Related Art
Liquid crystal display devices, organic EL (electroluminescence) devices, and other electro-optical devices are included as display devices used in mobile telephones, personal computers, PDAs (personal digital assistants), and other electronic instruments. The color filters of liquid crystal display devices, the luminescent layers of organic EL devices, and other thin films are known to be formed by a droplet discharge method (inkjet scheme) in the manufacture of these electro-optical devices (see Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2006-346575, for example).
Minute amounts of a liquid material can be applied in the desired positions according to the resolution of the droplet discharge head used in a thin-film formation technique that uses a droplet discharge method. It is therefore possible to form patterns that are vastly finer than patterns formed by relief printing or another printing technique. In a case in which red, green, and blue color filter layers are formed on a substrate, for example, a liquid material that includes red, green, or blue color material is discharged from the nozzles of a droplet discharge head into regions (pixels) that are partitioned on a substrate, and the liquid material is dried and hardened to form a color filter layer. In order to increase the open area of a pixel, there has recently been proposed a color filter that has a notched part for placement of a TFT or other switching element or the like for applying voltage to the pixel electrode in the pixel (see Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 10-78590, for example).
In an organic EL device, a liquid material that includes a functional material is discharged onto regions (pixels) in which luminescent layers or the like are to be formed on the substrate, and the liquid material is dried and hardened to form thin film layers. The pixels have commonly been formed in rectangular shapes, but triangular or polygonal-shaped pixels have recently been proposed in order to increase resolution and eliminate wasted space in the pixel arrangement (see Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2001-143868, for example).